Sabre is in the midst of rolling out with Qantas its Sabre Branded Fares product, which is part of a larger effort to allow airlines to merchandize, unbundle and further differentiate fare offerings through the global distribution system, the company said today. Although initially available only for domestic Australian fares, Sabre said it is in discussions with other carriers in "nearly every market" to leverage the new fare display platform, with plans to make the offering available globally.
In the meantime, the company is rolling out a new desktop interface on an agency-by-agency basis in Australia. Sabre vice president of product marketing Kyle Moore today said the company expects other carriers to launch new merchandising options through Sabre Branded Fares by year-end, with eventual integration into corporate online booking tools.
"We've taken the traditional agent workflow and have given them an easy way to capture and understand what airlines may be doing from a merchandising, shopping and selling standpoint," Sabre's Moore said, "but they don't have to leave their traditional workflow to do that."
Such carriers as Air Canada, Ryanair and Spirit Airlines have initiated the new pricing models, breaking out from total airfare fees for services like checked baggage, assigned seating and frequent flyer points, among others. However, those carriers have enabled such pricing options through their Web sites. As such, the major GDSs are in various phases of putting in place tools that allow for the merchandising of airfares through their systems
(BTN, July 23).
Galileo later this year plans to launch a new agency desktop that would allow Air Canada to display its unbundled fares and other Web-only offerings to agents in Canada
(BTNonline, Aug. 15)—a move Sabre was quick to criticize as a less inefficient, one-carrier solution that relies on an application program interface as opposed to deeper GDS integration.
"Sabre is an advocate for an industry-wide solution that addresses the need for an efficient process that fully integrates within travel agencies workflow, while also addressing the airlines' marketing needs," Sabre said in a statement last week. "We do not believe an API-centered approach achieves this efficiency. It appears what was announced addresses a single airline solution, rather than an industry standard we have been working with other airline and industry groups to achieve."
Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell said the Air Canada-Galileo agreement raises several questions for travel buyers and agents, noting concerns as to whether the agreement includes all Air Canada inventory, whether it offers the functionality that buyers and agents require and whether new costs are associated with Air Canada bookings through Galileo, among others. Mitchell today said he expects to speak with representatives from Air Canada and Galileo to discuss his concerns.